Stars shimmer on Oscar red carpet as diamonds and gold have their day

27 February 2017

Hollywood's A-list stars flaunted gold and silver gowns on the Oscar red carpet on Sunday, doused with a generous helping of diamonds, feathers, sequins and symbolic blue ribbons on the world's most cinematic runway.

"This is a fantastic year for fashion on the red carpet," said InStyle's fashion news director Eric Wilson. "It's unusual to see this many great gowns, each with something unusual that makes it feel like a new look."

Velvet ruffles from Oscar de la Renta cascaded down last year's best actress winner Brie Larson in an old Hollywood glamour look with a dramatic decolletage.

"The velvet is big. That will be a trend continuing in 2017 as we've seen on runways," said Glamour fashion news director Florence Kane.

Isabelle Huppert, nominated for best actress for "Elle" showed her typically refined style in a long-sleeved silver Armani Prive gown, while Ruth Negga, also nominated in the same category for "Loving," chose a long-sleeved lacy Valentino in the fashion house's signature vibrant red.

Supporting actress nominee Viola Davis poured herself into an off-the-shoulder red Armani, as Charlize Theron went for a metallic look in Dior.

Negga and other attendees like model Karlie Kloss added a blue ribbon to their gowns and tuxedos to show support for the American Civil Liberties Union, an advocacy group that worked to get President Donald Trump's travel ban blocked in U.S. courts.

Both Stone and Johnson, meanwhile, wore pins in support of Planned Parenthood, a reproductive healthcare group that Trump has pledged to defund because it provides abortions.

Also sporting a blue ribbon was Lin-Manuel Miranda, best known for Broadway's "Hamilton." He had his mother on his arm as his date and noted proudly that he bought his tuxedo in Yonkers, New York, at the same shop where he bought his high school prom tux years ago.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton.

"Chanel Pharrell!" proclaimed singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, decked out in a fitted Chanel tux accessorized with a dramatic black bead necklace that fell down over the lapel.

Two stuffed pandas, meanwhile were the arm candy of Jackie Chan, stand-ins for the real pandas the action star adopted at a breeding facility in Chengdu, China.

"I am the panda ambassador! They go wherever I go, they take photos with famous people, Stallone, Clinton...," Chan said.